some cheeky snaps...

It's a hard trek life for us

So finally got round to this poor blog, sorry for the delays. Where to start. So we embarked upon our second phase on the 4th of March, a gruelling 270km trek from the south to the west of Costa Rica through a region called Guanacaste. This area is reknowned for being one of the most physically diverse parts of the planet, with about 7 different types of terrain from cloud forest to wetlands to desert-esque landscapes. We left fieldbase with the packs on our backs and nothing else. Because we had to distribute a certain amount of group kit between us (trangias, tents, all the food we needed for 7 days, med kit and comms kit) there was very limited space for personal items. I had to be satisfied with one pair of shorts, 2 t-shirts, one jumper, 3 pairs of underwear and 3 pairs of socks, with a miniscule amount of toiletries. You can, or probably would be better not to, imagine just how deliciously pungent we all became fairly quickly. The first day we were literally thrown off of the bus onto the side of the road, packs and all, into the blazing heat of the midday sun (about 35 d celcius) to begin the first 13k day of our 18 day adventure. The first day was definitely the most challenging, we trundled along our route bewildered, unsure of what to expect or how we were supposed to be feeling, how our packs were supposed to be feeling, trying to grasp the concept of a kilometre and estimate the remaining distance, tackling hills and new terrain, attempting to balance rehydration and blisters and achy muscles all whilst getting to know everyone in our new group. I think it is fair to say that we all shared the same feeling at the end of that first day, reaching an open bodega to set up mosquito nets and roll mats to finally rest before getting up at 3 to trek again the next day:

"Oh.My.God."

The first day was really daunting, but after that you begin to get a grasp on how to adjust your pack to fit more comfortably, when to drink so you're not constantly making toilet stops by the side of the road, your body grows stronger and stops hurting so much, your boots mould to your feet and blisters harden, and you begin to enjoy the walks, the physical challenge of it all and the incredible landscapes. We walked on a mixture of mountain paths, through forest and along main roads for the first 6 days, on day 4 I discovered my peanut allergy after eating a trailmix bar and having to stop in the next town to vomit violently in the toilet of a local pulperia- stuck to biscuits after that episode. By Day 7 we had lost one member of the team to a severe ankle injury for a few days- he was taken to a nearby hostel and given 3 days rest before being driven back to meet us once we made it out of the jungle- yes you heard correctly, our route took us directly through raw cloud forest for 2 days. We had our own personal ranger, Don Luz, a man who, given a machete and a canvas bag on a rope tied craftily around his shoulder to form a sort of primitive backpack, succeeded in leading a team of 15 young venturers through untamed forest, sourcing out water for us to fill our camelbaks and pointing out the steady rocks for us to cross rivers, and pulling a few of us up the sheer muddy hills, demonstrating which vines to grab hold of and where to place your foot to get a healthy grip to push yourself upwards. We camped that night in the midst of the jungle, in a pretty snake-infested area, wet-wipe shower for me, dined on a fine meal of dehydrated mashed tatties, lentils and ranchero sauce- carbs carbs carbs. Most of our meals consisted of tinned or powdered versions of normal food (all milk came in powder form). the standard choices were- mac and cheese (from a powder), mash and lentils, rice and ranchero, noodles and ranchero, sometimes with accompaniments of chickpeas or canned mix veg. After 2 days of trekking through hilly cloud forest terrain (one of the only areas of cloud forest left in the world apparently), we came back onto main roads. From then on it was a countdown to our final 30km day to the beach at the end which we managed to complete in 5 hours- literally we ran about 2 k once we neared the end, but completed it finally, exhausted and satisfied. Job done! More to come about the final phase soon...